by the time the much anticipated super group of McKagan, Arm, McCready and Martin took the stage atop one of Seattle’s most recognizable icons, the the crowd of 10,000 was ready for some rock and roll.

Almost exactly 26 years after the release of the Beastie Boys’ Paul’s Boutique, KEXP will dedicate a full day of programming to the sampling classic, playing the seminal album and every identified song that it samples across 12 hours, resulting in an odyssey of diverse, unorthodox radio.

Now in its eighth year, Concerts at the Mural is realized through a remarkable partnership between KEXP and Seattle Center. The series offers a blend of musical styles for Center neighbors, downtown workers, music lovers and families.

KEXP’s featured non-profit of the month is City Fruit, a local organization dedicated to harvesting fruit from residential properties and public parks and making it available to food banks and meal programs throughout Seattle.

Another very special guest was Jason Kertson, who has made quite a name for himself in the northwest. The teenage guitar prodigy sat in with the band that is very special to him. Kertson is of course the grandson of Rob Lind the charismatic Sax player for The Sonics.

Taking the tour of both the current location of KEXP and the now empty building that will house the new state-of-the-art facility, we kept hearing this one catch phrase over and over. Public Engagement.